Tag: Jigsaw Puzzling

Went a Little Crazy…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous11 Comments

I bought a BUNCH of puzzles this past week – which is not something I usually do. Do you ever feel like even though you have plenty of puzzles to assemble that none of them are ones you really want to assemble? I understand that’s absolutely not an actual problem or what is called a “first world problem”. I’m just dealing with a lot right now and not handling it well, and when I was trying to decide on what puzzle was next I was not in a good place.

Add quite a severe case of P.A.D.S. into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for crazed online puzzle shopping late at night – and also a trip to a brick and mortar store earlier in the week. You can see from the picture above that the P.A.D.S. was in control of me and I went a little puzzle crazy. (Surprisingly there is no remorse whatsoever)

I only bought Ravensburger and Buffalo puzzles; I wanted good quality that I wouldn’t have to worry about. Also, I wanted to get some Aimee Stewart puzzles, some that I hadn’t seen before. All the puzzles shown above were online purchases, I forgot to add the brick and mortar buys to the picture – sorry.

From Buffalo I got seven Aimee Stewarts (only four shown here), a Charles Wysocki with quilts, a Ciro Marchetti, a couple of the Country Life series (both with quilts), and one of the Vivid Collection.

From Ravensburger I got a couple of interesting 500 piece puzzles, a Hansel and Gretel puzzle that is too cute for words, and one of their Abandoned series called The Deserted Department Store.

Sixteen puzzles later there are even more puzzles at my house to choose from; I haven’t decided which one is next, but I’m happier with my choices at the moment (and in a slightly better headspace). 🧩❤

Working on….

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling5 Comments

I’m working on laying out all the pieces of my next puzzle. I’d put an image on the homepage, but the puzzle is so old that there’s no image online that I can find. I could take a picture of the box and put it up, but it is pretty damaged (thrift store puzzle) so it wouldn’t work very well or look very good.

You’ll be surprised to hear that it’s a Ceaco puzzle – from the mid 90s. I think it’ll be pretty when it’s finished, and I’m interested to see if the quality was any better back then, at least as far as the fit is concerned. The piece shapes are quite different than their usual grid cut shapes; so it may be, at the very least, a more interesting assembly. They’re about the same thickness, but the board seems much sturdier than the average Ceaco puzzle I’ve worked with before. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it all works out.

I’m hoping you all are working on beautiful, interesting, or entertaining puzzles at the moment – and hopefully no duds or bad quality.

Happy puzzling! 🧩💜

Puzzle In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling15 Comments

It’s been quite a week here for me, and I’m wiped out. My daughter had to have a third surgery on her leg injury from last year’s crash, hubby had a couple of physical therapy sessions and I had an appointment with my pain doctor – who wanted to talk about my getting an implant that delivers a pain medication derived from the venom of a Cone Snail – what?! Yes, that is my complicated life these days.

Anyway, to help my brain leave all of that behind for a little while I’m currently working on Skate Night by Aimee Stewart. It’s slow going, because I’ve just not been feeling well enough to sit at the puzzle board for long periods – but I’m enjoying it very much.

I assembled this image once before – in a 300 piece – this one is 1000 pieces. When I put it together the first time and posted about it I wished for the image in a large piece count, and my wish came true! My dear friend and fellow puzzle junkie Penny saw this when it was released and sent it to me; it was during my absence from puzzling, and besides trying to help me get back to my puzzles she also knows how much I love Aimee’s images.

If you’d like to see the post of Skate Night in 300 pieces, click here. I adored it the first time, and I’m having even more fun the second time around!

Butterflies In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Butterflies III – Cra-Z-Art – 500 pieces

I spent A LOT of time yesterday trying to decide on the next puzzle; for some reason my brain was being extremely fickle and I just couldn’t stick with one choice. Several times the decision was made, and several times I changed my mind. At one point I thought the best way to come up with the next puzzle was to go shopping and find something new – my brain is so weird sometimes.

Eventually everything finally came to rest on this set of 18 butterflies and I was able to get them sorted while I was in bed watching tv. I’ve only gotten a few of them finished this morning; either they’re more difficult than usual or I haven’t had enough coffee yet. Or it could be both.

There are some large butterflies in this set and some beautiful (but difficult) patterns. I’ve found myself staring at the pieces, completely engrossed in the assembly; I forget there’s coffee next to me, I forget everything until that mini puzzle is done. Then I come out of my stupor to find that much time has passed and my coffee is cold!

Some of the sets are quite easy to assemble, and some are more challenging. So far I’d put this one in the more challenging category. Last night was a terrible night for sleep and I’m dragging and feeling stupid this morning – that could be a part of the problem. Perhaps I should go watch a couple episodes of the current show I’m binge-watching; I can have a few cups of coffee and make sure I’m more awake and aware before I attempt to put together any more pretty butterflies.

It’ll probably be about a month before you start seeing the assembled flutter-bys being posted, but please don’t expect names and bios; although they’re beautiful creatures they just don’t have personality to speak of.

If I can’t see faces I can’t see individuality, identity, charisma, or emotion. Without those I’ve got nuthin’!

What’s In Progress?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling12 Comments

Happy Sunday dear readers! What’s happening on your boards this weekend? I finished up the Dogs with Jobs, completed a 150 piece mini (it was so cool!), and have started sorting my next puzzle – a 1000 piece Hot Cocoa collage. I’m hoping it’s as much fun as it looks!

I’m certain you’ve noticed that recently I’ve been posting every third day about what’s in progress instead of posting only new puzzles every day; that’s because my queue of puzzles has dwindled down quite a bit and I’m trying to stretch them out. Hubby has needed me to be his helper and chauffeur since the beginning of the month when he had his surgery, and it’s worn me out – the puzzling has slowed down significantly.

He has just this week had his sutures removed and is now able to walk with a boot, though not all the time. Since the crutches and scooter are not needed nearly as much now I’ve been back at the puzzle board – thank goodness. My services, including making meals and carrying things are no longer as in demand as they were before and I now have a bit more time for myself. Yay!

So what are you all up to? Working on something fun? Something awful? Have you been shopping in stores or online and found anything exciting?

Do tell!